Bumper to Bumper – Which future Tata Nano Variant will be profitable?

The little hatchback which was introduced as the world’s most affordable car had been in the new for both good and bad reasons. Let’s see what lies ahead for the little Tata.

Tata recently offered a limited edition Nano for the Diwali which offered Rs. 25,000 worth accessories at no additional costs and even the 2012 Nano which was significantly improved than the previous model came with no price hike, which means Tata Motors is not getting as much sales volume from the car as expected.

The year ahead may bring some solace to the India’s largest automaker since two exciting variants of Nano are lined up. Tata has announced a CNG and a diesel variant of the car which is expected to offer a significant boost to the sales.

The diesel variant could have a twin cylinder 800 turbocharged intercooled engine whose fuel economy will be around 30 kmpl. There is also a future third variant in the works which will have a bigger petrol engine, may be displacing around 800cc, possibly with a 5-Speed transmission. It could be positioned in the Alto 800 territory.

So, which variant do you think will make the Nano more profitable and provide the carmaker a renewed confidence to continue improving the Nano?

An 800cc Petrol Engine,power Steering, little face lifting and refreshed Interiors can make the nano a success. If possible an airbag also, which can wash away the fears of safety issues.There can be a marginal price increase, and can be launched as a city car,I bet it will be a hit. Fiat 500 can be a benchmark for design.A compact 3 cylinder high torque petrol engine will be perfect.

Tata needs and image refresh, it shouldn’t look or feel cheap, something like brio, although honda has done extreme cost cutting in brio it still doesn’t feels cheap, it a mix of product design, posturing and also the target segment, better looks on both the bumpers and a bit bigger tires with alloys abs, higher grade interior even if they are accessories or packs, it should evoke a sense of pride in owning a nano not another way.

Only image change of can succeed it. we have seen shift of buying behavior from small car to luxury hatch. same happen over here people are willing to alto than nano due to it’s image and doubt about power. coming to question according to me CNG variant will work for them as in rural market is already capture by TATA ACE magic which is diesel car. and in cities cng pumps are expanding. and anyhow boot was not there for car so even cng tank will not create any problem of space if it is fitted back of sit and luggage space made available in front(I read somewhere that tata is working on shifting stepeny to somewhere else to create space

Hey Shrawan, I think it’s high time Tata goes a little futuristic and plans an electric version. A good portion of Nano buyers are people looking for a second small vehicle to go grocery shopping and all that. If an e-Nano is out, it could go head to head with the Reva NXR next year and beat it out right.

I’m afraid, non of these would work out well. CNG is restricted to few selected cities only, 30kmpl diesel would face same fate, 800cc Nano(P/D) seems unsafe and would make Nano uneasy considering being rear engined. If ever Tata comes out with “air-engine” powered Nano, then we can expect some volume. Else they have to get back to their drawing board and come out with something as good as Hyundai Eon or their Pixel concept for city, as mentioned in the post: “Ratan Tata wants to refresh the Nano for Round 2”.